The rift teleported Veliona, Aldrich and Levi out in front of the chief's house. Veliona closed the rift immediately, sheathing her dagger in her belt.
"I guess we better start looking for the source of this curse," Veliona stated as she started walking. "I don't suppose you guys have any idea where that could be?"
"I'll know it when I see it," Levi answered.
Veliona raised an eyebrow but decided now probably wasn't the time to go into detail. She nodded and followed Levi's lead with Aldrich.
They walked through the rows of houses; the whole village was weirdly empty. There had been so many people around earlier.
"Where do you guys think all the people went?" Aldrich asked as they walked.
As if in response to his question, a shiver ran down Levi's spine. The eerie silence broke, and screams cut through the air. Levi whipped around to find an onslaught of yurei, the rest of the villagers, heading their way.
"You just had to ask, didn't you?" Veliona yelled as they broke into a sprint.
The yurei were catching up. Aldrich felt one's cold grip on his heel just as Veliona slid her dagger out once more and cut open a rift. They came out on the roof of a house and didn't stop running.
They leapt from roof to roof before dropping down between two houses. They seemed to have lost their pursuers, if only for a little while.
Aldrich bent over, resting his hands on his knees, gasping to catch his breath. He looked up to see Veliona giving him a curious look. "What? It's hard running in chainmail."
"It is!" He insisted, when her smug expression didn't fade.
Levi moved toward the opening of the alley. No sign of the yurei. They hadn't seen them earlier until they were almost right on top of them. But at least they had some time to figure out what to do next.
"Are you guys playing hide and seek too?!"
Levi stiffened while Aldrich and Veliona almost jumped out of their skins. Right beside Levi was a little girl holding a doll close to her chest. The chief's granddaughter, Momo.
Veliona moved closer and knelt down to be eye level with her. "Where have you been, Momo?"
Momo gave her a wide, toothy grin. "I'm playing hide and seek with grandma and grandpa! They haven't found me yet."
Aldrich placed his hand lightly on Veliona's shoulder, he had a serious look in his eyes. Levi had a similar one. It took Veliona a second to realise they were staring at the little girl and not her.
"Wha- you guys don't actually think that-"
She found herself wondering why the thought hadn't occurred to her too in the first place. She studied the still grinning child in front of her. She wasn't sure what to say.
"Momo," Veliona started, looking directly into the child's eyes. "What year is it?"
Momo looked confused for a second before her face lit up. "Oh, oh I know this one. My grandma taught me." She began to count on her fingers. "One... two... nine eight. One two nine eight!"
That was twenty years ago.
"You're the cursed one aren't you." Levi said. "That's why the other two kept wanting to 'play'. You created all of this."
Momo gave him a puzzled look. Veliona stood up and pulled the little girl closer to herself. "Even if she is, she probably doesn't know what she did."
"Princess, I don't think it's smart to have her... so close to you." Aldrich said, his voice tinged with concern.
Levi had gotten even closer to them. "What was the last thing you remember?" He started to interrogate the child. "Not of this reality you've created. The real last thing."
"I-... I..." A single tear rolled down Momo's cheek. "I was playing with my doll. I bumped... into one of the bad men. He was angry, really angry. Uncle Aki tried to save me."
At this point, the single tear had turned into a whole stream of tears. "But then th-they hurt everyone. And it's all my fault." She sniffled. "If I hadn't bumped into the scary man, everyone would be okay."
Veliona bent down again and pulled the girl into a hug. "It's not your fault, none of this is."
She felt the girl's body shake as she began to cry loudly. Her sniffles echoed in the empty space. Aldrich and Levi watched in silence, until the girl's sobs finally began to die down.
Veliona gently pulled the girl away from her shoulder. Momo wiped her nose with her sleeve and sniffed loudly. "And then what happened after." Veliona asked.
"I couldn't move my body. Everything was red." Momo replied, eyes puffy. "I just... wanted to play with everyone, one last time. And, and then he spoke to me. He told me I could play with everyone again... forever."
"Who is 'he'?" Aldrich asked.
"Mister Scruffles."
The doll, Levi realized. He'd thought there was something off about it. His eyes shot to the girl's arms, but she wasn't holding it anymore. He began to look around.
Aldrich tapped his shoulder, pointing at the exit of the alley. "There!"
There was the doll, floating in mid-air. Its head snapped to the side suddenly. As if it was mocking them.
"Well, that's really creepy." Aldrich commented.
Levi pushed off and began to chase it. "It's got the soul fragment. After it!"
Veliona wanted to ask what they were talking about, but the two of them had already run off. She took Momo by the hand and began to follow.
×
Aldrich veered to the left as he and Levi chased after the creepy floating doll, stumbling for a second but managing to upright himself and not fall.
Levi was a few dozen meters ahead of him, but that was only because he wasn't wearing chainmail like he was. By the time they managed to corner the doll in front of one of the houses, Aldrich was gasping for breath.
"Are you alright?" Levi asked, keeping his eyes on the doll.
"I-... I'm good." Aldrich replied between deep breaths.
"Let's play a game."
The both of them stiffened. They had just heard a voice, but not with their ears. It was like it had spoken directly into their brains. It was the doll speaking.
"Let's play a game." It repeated in its creepy voice.
"I'd... rather not." Aldrich panted.
The doll didn't have a face, but somehow they could tell it wasn't happy with that answer. A harmony of ghostly moans came from behind them. The rest of the yurei had finally reappeared.
"Then die."
Levi stepped forward. "We'll play!"
The doll sounded pleased. "Perfect. I want to play... keidoro."
"I have no idea what that is." Aldrich said to Levi. He had managed to catch his breath now.
The doll giggled. "It's simple, this time we'll be the good guys and you will be the bad guy. You have to avoid being caught for five minutes. If you get caught, you die."
"Fine." Levi answered, after weighing their other options. "But when we win, I'm taking that soul fragment back."
Aldrich didn't seem quite as confident as Levi. "Wait, when you say 'we'll be the good guys' you mean..."
The doll giggled. "Yes, all my friends are playing too."
Its 'friends' being the bloodthirsty yurei a few meters behind them.
"I'll do it, I'll play for both of us." Levi declared.
The doll shook its head, or rather, it shook its whole body. "No, no, no. I want... him to play," it said, referring to Aldrich.
"What, me?!" Aldrich exclaimed.
"You can't choose who on our side gets to play," Levi disputed.
The doll giggled. "I just did. Now get ready, the game's about to begin."
Aldrich shot Levi a panicky look.
"You get a one-minute head start. Three... two... one...
Go!"